Different Heat Pads

Pantalaimon

Pantalaimon

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, I am looking for more heat pads for my guiena pigs to get through the winter as their room can get down to 10 degrees and I have a guinea pig with ongoing respiratory issues who does not do well in the cold. Last year I bought a snugglesafe heat pad, which worked really well. This year I am going to get three more heat pads so that there are two in the cage at all times. But this is going to be really expensive buying snugglesafe ones, they are also very hard.
I was wondering if anyone has used wheat bags? I have found some that are unscented (they would also be sealed in a cover) but I was wondering if anyone had any experience with how long they retain heat?
These are the ones I have looked at.
 
Are those hard like the snuggle safe ones or are they softer? They look like they might be slightly thinner and was chunky in the pictures.
 
They are hard, but with the cover, our piggies don't seem to mind that.....they either sit on the top, or drape themselves over the edge! We have also tried to use them under the cushion part of a cuddle cup, but Bubble and Squeak were not keen to use them this way.
The pods are just under 3cm high and just over 21cm in diameter. I've not tried the wheat bags with ours, as Bubble likes to chew everything!
 
I would think, for some piggies, there is a risk of them being chewed.

The hardness of snugglesafes is not a problem for most piggies. I know none of my rabbits or pigs are bothered by it and happily sit on them. They (and the scratch and new ones) are the only things, in my opinion, that would be fully safe
 
So this may or may not work for piggies. It does work for parrots though. I bought this for my parrot to help keep him warm in the winter. It gets warm, not hot. I can put my hand on it without it burning or feeling to warm. The cord comes out the back of it so it is easier to keep it away from a biting parrot beak. Rickie (that's who is pictured in my icon) can stand near it and feel warm and move away when he doesn't want it anymore.

Amazon.com
 
I don’t think they would chew it if the contents are contained within the pouch itself and the whole thing is in a sealed cover with Velcro underneath very much like the snugglesafe covers.
My main reasons for looking for an alternative to the snugglesafe ones are that my guinea pig who needs the heat pad likes to feel enclosed and the snugglesafe one is so big and thick that it holds the cuddle cup open and raises her up, meaning she feels less enclosed. I also feel that she is put off using it by how hard it is, she will use a flattened thick snuggle sack to perch on as it is softer.
I was just wondering if anyone had used one and had any experience of how long they retain heat. Since nobody seems to have used one I may buy one anyway and see how it goes, for my guinea pigs I know that they are highly unlikely to chew it but I am fully aware that would not be the case for others!
 
my piggy room gets crazy cold in winter 🥲 decided to buy a space heater as I didn’t like how hard the snugglesafe heat pads are. Definitely a more expensive option and only works if your room has space/an outlet to plug in the space heater but it’s been awesome and the room is never cold now! Would 100% recommend
 
Suki&Indie said:
my piggy room gets crazy cold in winter 🥲 decided to buy a space heater as I didn’t like how hard the snugglesafe heat pads are. Definitely a more expensive option and only works if your room has space/an outlet to plug in the space heater but it’s been awesome and the room is never cold now! Would 100% recommend
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I was planning on getting some kind of heater this winter. I realised a heater was needed last December when it was extremely cold. Sometimes it’s ridiculously cold and she just won’t go into a bed, she’ll sit there all fluffed up and have a wet nose but will refuse to go to the warmer spots!
Does it take up lots of space? And is it efficient power wise? I ended up using a 30+ year old oils radiator that got extremely hot and was quite power hungry last year.
 
Pantalaimon said:
I was planning on getting some kind of heater this winter. I realised a heater was needed last December when it was extremely cold. Sometimes it’s ridiculously cold and she just won’t go into a bed, she’ll sit there all fluffed up and have a wet nose but will refuse to go to the warmer spots!
Does it take up lots of space? And is it efficient power wise? I ended up using a 30+ year old oils radiator that got extremely hot and was quite power hungry last year.
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Hi the one I have is from Argos: “Dimplex ML2CE 2kW Touch Screen Convector Heater” - I went for quite a fancy one as I can be awful at remembering to switch things off and this one has a timer or automatically turns off if it gets too warm. It’s quite big (about the size of a radiator) but you can get smaller. I find it’s quite cheap to run since I only have it on for maximum an hour or two in the whole day - makes the room so warm sometimes I have to open the door to let some heat out haha
 
Suki&Indie said:
Hi the one I have is from Argos: “Dimplex ML2CE 2kW Touch Screen Convector Heater” - I went for quite a fancy one as I can be awful at remembering to switch things off and this one has a timer or automatically turns off if it gets too warm. It’s quite big (about the size of a radiator) but you can get smaller. I find it’s quite cheap to run since I only have it on for maximum an hour or two in the whole day - makes the room so warm sometimes I have to open the door to let some heat out haha
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Thank you. I will look into this some more.
 
Pantalaimon said:
Thank you. I will look into this some more.
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That heater sounds really good and am also considering buying it, but it is almost £100 to buy and just wondering how much it costs to run?

In our bungalow in winter, with only our small storage heater on in the kitchen and a couple of oil filled heaters on, for a couple of hours, in the bedroom at night, we are already spending almost £10 a day on electric! 😟

We didn't have any piggies last winter, so it's probably going to be quite worrying trying to afford to keep their room (Our living room) warm, this winter.
 
Storm1974 said:
That heater sounds really good and am also considering buying it, but it is almost £100 to buy and just wondering how much it costs to run?

In our bungalow in winter, with only our small storage heater on in the kitchen and a couple of oil filled heaters on, for a couple of hours, in the bedroom at night, we are already spending almost £10 a day on electric! 😟

We didn't have any piggies last winter, so it's probably going to be quite worrying trying to afford to keep their room (Our living room) warm, this winter.
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There’s a good explanation for how much it costs to run in the q+a’s on the Argos website: depending on how much your energy provider charges for 1kw you can work it out. since it’s 2kw just multiply how much they charge for 1kw by 2 and that’s how much it costs to run for an hour. I don’t leave it on for long (maybe 1-2 hours in a day) because it’s VERY efficient at heating up a room! I think there’s also an eco setting which may use less electricity? Not sure though haha
 
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